I'm not a docotor-- but the mucosal thickening-- usually means a sinus infection/ear infection-- I think the mastoid sits behind the ear/sinus area-- has he had a cold/resp. infection? That could be what the decreased aeration in the lung is too. Again though-- I'm not a doctor-- just have a daughter with a lot of resp. infections so I've seen that before. Good luck!Lisa

Well we know he has fluid in his ears. He has dramatic hearing loss in his right ear and mild in his left. He is constantly congested and is on antihistamines for it but so far its not doing anything. They told me that if it doesn't work then he will have to get tubes in his ears. I've never had a doctor look at his lungs before so I don't know how long that's been there but I wonder now if that's why he never actually runs. he will jog or walk but never actually runs. Interesting.

He's always been stuffy all the time.. I just thought it was the way he was. Even when he was little.

Amanda,I just looked back at your previous posts--- you said your son has many stomach/reflux type problems?? Did you know that reflux can actually cause respirtory problems? And that a chiari can cause reflux? That is how my daughter initially presented-- with what they thought was reflux-- she kept getting pneumonias, and resp. infections. They actually did surgery for reflux-- and when that didn't work they realized the reflux was being caused by the chiari. It's def. something to look into. Do you see a chiari specialist? It might be worth getting some other opinions. There is def. a link there. Don't let them tell you otherwise. Good luck -- let me know if there's anything I can help with!Lisa

I've read somewhere that Chiari can cause reflux somewhere. I really feel like all his problems are from his Chiari,my husband isn't so sure. He seems to think that i'm overreacting but that's pretty typical for him. Being a man lol I'm so worried that they will not listen to me or downplay everything. Not that I want him to have surgery but I just don't want them to ignore his symptoms just beacuse he's not throwing up everywhere or having severe headaches everyday...

My gp is getting on my nerves. Not that I will be relying on her for any advice, but she keeps telling me he's fine and nothing MRI is of any concern. He's just not taking deep breaths.. riiight than why isn't the right lung having a problem as well ?

We are going to see a neurosurgeon on the 13th at stanford. His name is Dr. Edwards.